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Indiana Services

The mission of the Indiana Department of Veterans Affairs is to assist Hoosier Veterans, service personnel, their dependents and/or survivors in obtaining every benefit and advantage due them under the laws of the State of Indiana and the United States. The Department works with a network of certified County Veteran Service Officers who are there to assist with information and the preparation of paperwork at no cost.

Some of the State benefits that may apply are:

Indiana Benefits

The Indiana Department of Veterans Affairs is a State Agency. We do not have access to all records that may be on file at the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (Federal Agency). When applying for state veteran benefits please include evidence of service connected disabilities and your military discharge if these documents are available. If we only receive an application we will request your service dates and disability rating information from the USDVA regional office. This request can take a week or longer to return to us. We will also check our files to see if we have records as well.

PROPERTY TAX DEDUCTIONS

Eligible veterans may be able to deduct $24,960 from the assessed value of their property if:

1. the individual served in the military or naval forces of the United States during any of its wars
2. the individual received an honorable discharge
3. the individual has a disability with a service connected disability of 10% or more

WARTIME SERVICE DATES:
WWII: December 7, 1941 - December 31, 1946
KOREA: June 21, 1950 - January 31, 1955
VIETNAM August 5, 1964 - May 7, 1975
GULF WAR August 2, 1990 - Present (or a date to be determined by congress)

Effective July 1, 2019 for the 2020 tax year

Eligible veterans may also be able to deduct $14,000 from the assessed value of their property if:

1. the individual served in the military or naval forces of the United States for at least 90 days
2. the individual received an honorable discharge
3. the individual either:
(A) has a total disability; or
(B) is a least 62 years old AND has a disability of at least 10%To receive the $14,000 deduction the assessed value of the property may not exceed $200,000

The individual's disability is evidenced by:
1. a pension certificate or award of compensation issued by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs OR a certificate of eligibility issued by the Indiana Department of Veterans Affairs after determination that the individual's disability and service dates qualify the individual to receive a deduction.

The surviving spouse of an individual may receive this deduction if:
1. the individual was eleiglble for the deduction at the time of their death OR
2. the individual was killed in action or died while serving on active duty in the military or naval forces of the Untied States or died while perfroming inactive duty training in the militray or naval forces of the United States.
Other requirements can be referenced in Indiana Code 6-1.1-12-14 regarding assessed value of the property.

If an individual is eligible for the above deductions but does not own property, a credit for vehicle excise tax may be taken. The amount of excise tax is the lesser of the following:
1. the amount of excise tax determined by the Bureau of Motor Vehicles OR $70.
The maximum number of vehicles an individual may claim is two (2). Individuals must request an affidavit from the county auditor and take it to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles to receive the credit.
The complete Indiana Code for this credit can be viewed by clicking HERE
IC 6-6-5-5.2

If a property was conveyed to an individual without charge by a non-profit organization exempt from income taxation under the Federal Internal Revenue Code, the individual must:
1. have served in the military or naval forces of the United States for at least 90 days
2. have received an honorable discharge
3. must have a service connected disability rating of at least 50%

The individual's disability is evidenced by:
1. a pension certificate or award of compensation issued by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs OR a certificate of eligibility issued by the Indiana Department of Veterans Affairs after determination that the individuals disability and service dates qualify the individual to receive a deduction.

The amount of the deduction is equal to the service connected disability of the individual deducted from the assessed value of the property.
Example: If the individual is totally disabled 100% of the assessed value is deducted.
If the individual is 90% disabled 90% of the assessed value is deducted and so on down to a 50%
disability rating.
The complete Indiana Code for Property Tax deductions can be viewed by clicking HERE. Reference
IC 6-1.1-12 Sections 13, 14, and 14.5.
Surviving spouses may also be eligible if the veteran met the eligibility criteria at the time of their death.

IDVA no longer accepts paper applications for Tuition and Fee Exemption programs for children of veterans, Purple Heart Recipients, or former students of Morton Memorial High School. All applicants will be required to apply online through Scholar Track.

All paper applications will be returned to the sender.

We advise Filing a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) before applying in Scholar Track. Information Provided in the FAFSA is fed into Scholar Track and makes the process smoother. Students should not apply earlier than the beginning of the second semester of their graduation year of High School. Please ensure if you intend on using this program you list eligible educational institutions on your FAFSA. Students using this program are required to file for FAFSA annually. The Indiana Commission for Higher Education cannot finalize the award offer under this program without a FAFSA on file. https://fafsa.ed.gov/

All IDVA approved Tuition and Fee Exemption programs can ONLY be used at the following educational institutions in Indiana:

Ball StateIndiana State University
Indiana University Bloomington
Indiana University East
Indiana University Kokomo
Indiana University South Bend
Indiana University Southeast
Purdue University West Lafayette
Purdue University North Central
Purdue University North West
Purdue Global
Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis
Indiana University Purdue University Columbus
Indiana University Purdue University Fort Wayne
Ivy Tech Community College (all Campuses)
University of Southern Indiana
Vincennes UniversityWestern Governor's University (WGU) INDIANA

Students can use Scholar Track to apply by going to the Scholar Track web page at https://scholartrack.che.in.gov and create a student account.When applying in Scholar Track you must upload all supporting documents in order for IDVA to determine the student's eligibility to use the Tuition and Fee Exemption. AT A MINIMUM THE STUDENT'S BIRTH CERTIFICATE OR ADOPTION PAPERWORK MUST BE UPLOADED.
Applications must be done under the STUDENT'S Scholar Track Account. Once the student is approved, award letters can be viewed and printed from the students account. Be advised, award letters may not be available at the time of approval and will be posted for the next school year closer to the beginning of that semester once released by the Commission for Higher Education.

PLEASE DO NOT SUBMIT A SCHOLAR TRACK APPLICATION UNTIL A BIRTH CERTIFICATE OR ADOPTION PAPERWORK IS UPLOADED. We cannot process the application without evidence of the student's relationship to the veteran as either the biological or adopted child.

If veteran documents are not available (i.e. Discharge from active service DD214 AND the summary letter from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Award of Disability), IDVA will request verification of the veteran's service and disability rating from the VA Regional Office in Indianapolis. Please be aware that this may take a week or longer to obtain. We will process online applications with all the needed documents uploaded first. Once a student is approved in Scholar Track there is no need to reapply for Tuition and Fee Exemption again. Staff within the financial aid offices at state schools can verify the student's eligibility for all educational scholarships awarded within the Scholar Track web page.

DISABLED HOOSIER VETERAN LICENSE PLATES

If you are applying forDisabled Hoosier Veteran License Plateswe need to see the disability award letter that has the breakdown of individual ratings for your disability(ies). IDVA needs to verify the disability is a mobility issue for the eligibility determination for the Disabled Hoosier Veteran License plate as per IC 9-18.5-5-1. The Veteran must be 50% service connected disabled by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs with at least 60% of that disability attributed to a mobility disability, OR the service connected disability precludes the Veteran from walking without pain or difficulty. If it is unclear that your service connected disability is causing you pain or difficulty while walking we may require a letter to be signed by your doctor.

Per Senate Enrolled Act No. 262 effective July 1, 2018, a person who has been issued or is otherwise eligible for the Disabled Hoosier Veteran License plate can obtain a Permanent Handicap Parking placard from the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles. This parking placard does not afford the same no fee at legal metered spaces parking privileges as the Disabled Hoosier Veteran License Plate. Reference IC 9-18.5-8-4.